


At The Docks

by Jenniffler7



Series: Make 'em Kiss [2]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenniffler7/pseuds/Jenniffler7
Summary: What if Tina had been a little bit braver at the docks?
Relationships: Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander
Series: Make 'em Kiss [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713655
Comments: 2
Kudos: 54





	At The Docks

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for a while but quarantine took the fun out of it a bit. It's been so fun to get back to it and hang with my favourite awkward humans. Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> P.S "delivered by owl" is absolutely a reference to the amazing Tonks and the Aurors song. Listen to it, you won't be disappointed!

Her playful retort dies on her lips as they step into the shipyard and see the boat that is going to carry him away. It’s almost as big as the Erumpent that has taken up residence on her chest; making her heart ache in a way she thought was reserved for the poets. Their time together is so limited now. There is so much she wants to tell him but she has left it too late.

She thinks he might feel the same pull towards her that she feels for him; as if there is a string beneath her navel that ties directly to his body. She wonders if when he leaves he will take her stomach with her, the way a honeybee is ripped apart when it stings you.

There he stands, that infuriatingly beautiful man. She wishes that looking at him didn’t feel like coming home. His case is carefully tied up with string and she has half a mind to ask him why he didn’t do that in the first place if he knew the catch was faulty, but she doesn’t want to argue with him now. He looks sad. Maybe his heart is breaking too.

The stop just before the boarding gate, and all the things she has left unsaid seem to hang in the air between them, creating a distance far greater than London to New York.

“Well”, Newt starts, breaking their uncomfortable silence. “It’s been-”

“Hasn’t it!” Tina jumps in, a little too quickly. There is a pregnant and awkward pause which she used to chastise herself. How can she be so desperate to tell him how she feels yet so afraid to hear his reply?

They both catch each other’s gaze and grin sheepishly. Could he possibly think of her that way? She’s sure she saw something in his eyes when he held her for a fraction of a second longer than was necessary after rescuing her from the death potion, but maybe she’s just projecting. He’s so hard to read, even Queenie has trouble and she’s the best judge of character she’s ever met.

There’s only one way to find out though. Now’s her last chance.

“Listen, Newt, I wanted to thank you.” 

He looks confused. A little crease forms between his eyebrows. She wants to reach out and smooth it with her thumb.

“What an earth for?” he asks, incredulous and laughing. Oh that laugh.

“Well, you know, if you hadn’t said all those nice things to Madam Picquery about me, I wouldn’t be back on the investigative team now.” At least she has her career now. She can always focus on that. She definitely has practice at staying busy.

“Well, I can’t think of anyone that I’d rather have investigating me,” Newt says, seeming to regret the words as soon as they leave his mouth, but she’s never found him more endearing.

“Well, try not to need investigating for a bit.” She grins, and his lips turn up in a soft smile.

“I will. Quiet life for me from now on. Back to the ministry, deliver my manuscript…” 

She wants to say  _ please don’t leave _ but hears herself respond:

“I’ll look out for it.  _ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _ .” They smile weakly at each other. There’s only so long they can drag out this goodbye. That’s what it is, after all. Goodbye.

Well, if she might never see him again she might as well go for it. There’s no use protecting this fragile friendship when he’s on another continent, and she can so easily be forgotten.

“Does Leta Lestrange like to read?” she asks

“Who?” He answers, evasively. He knows she knows. She’ll have to apologise to Queenie later.

“The girl whose picture you carry.” He’s not wiggling out of it that easily. She needs to know if she stands a chance, once and for all.

He shuffles his feet awkwardly. “I don’t really know what Leta likes these days.”

“Oh!” a squeak escapes her. Could she be that lucky?

“Because people change.”

“Yes.” She agrees, without thinking. Having adventures with him has changed her so much in such a short space of time, of course she can understand that.

“I’ve changed. I think. Maybe a little.” He looks surprised by the revelation. Her heart seems to be trying to beat it's way out of her chest.

The ship’s siren sounds, and Newt looks back at it sadly. They are almost alone now: most of the other passengers have boarded. Of course she would find someone just as they have to leave. Tears string her eyes and she blinks them back furiously, grateful that he can’t see. She is usually so strong and sure of herself, but he has the uncanny ability of turning her into a week-at-the-knees teenager.

He turns back to face her. “I’ll send you a copy of my book, if I may.”

She'd prefer it if he was delivered by owl, but she grasps at anything that could tie him to her.

"I'd like that." She smiles, looking forward to reading more about the animals that he loves so much. She hopes the Swooping Evil is in it: he's her favourite.

He looks adoringly at her, and she realises, finally, that he is falling too. She knows that her expression is mirroring his - a strange mixture of fear, longing, excitement and sadness.

He reaches forward slowly, as if asking for permission, and gently tucks a stay piece of hair behind her ear. She leans towards him imperceptibly - an invitation.

He suddenly turns on his heel and makes for the gangplank, leaving her raising a hand to her hair, as if touching where he touched her will bring him back.

And there he is, standing in front of her again.

"I’m so sorry – how would you feel if I gave you your copy in person?"

She thinks her smile might break her whole face open, and he's looking at her like she's the most fantastic beast he's ever seen.

"I'd like that," she laughs joyfully, "very much!" A stubborn tear breaks free, but she's past caring now. She's going to see him again.

He moves to step again away but her fingers reach out for him before she’s told them to, and latch onto his scarf to pull him towards her. Their bodies collide as she crushes her lips to his. 

For one terrifying moment he doesn’t react but then suddenly he’s kissing her back just as fiercely and the world disappears until all she can feel is his hands in her hair and the scratch of wool beneath her fingers. She never knew that kissing someone could feel like waking up.

A polite cough breaks them apart, and they look around, embarrassed. 

"Are you boarding, sir?” asks a crew member, looking a little smug.

“Oh...er...yes! Sorry.” He kisses Tina softly on her hairline, and starts walking awkwardly backwards up the gangplank.

“I’ll be back soon. I promise. Write to me!”

“I will.”

They drink the sight of each other in hungrily, savouring every second, until he’s forced to duck into the entryway. Tina turns to leave, a slight skip in her step. She's going to have trouble keeping this from Queenie


End file.
